The present invention relates to software development, and more specifically, to software development targeting multiple remote systems.
An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that facilitates software development. An IDE may include, for example, a source code editor, build automation tools, and a debugger, where the source code includes instructions on how a program should operate. Typically, a set of source files are fed to a build tool (e.g., compiler) that produces output such as intermediate objects, libraries, executable files, or some combination thereof. Historically, build output was designed to be used on the same workstation as the IDE used to develop the source files. More recently, some development environments facilitate the production of build outputs that run on systems that are remote to the workstation on which the IDE resides.
For example, by including a cross-compiler, the build tool of the IDE may produce output designed to be used on a platform other than the one on which the build was done. Some languages, such as Java, for example, produce build output that can run on any platform. Thus, when developing source code in those languages, with the cross-compiler approach, the local build tool is sufficient to produce the necessary output. However, platform-neutral languages like Java are not common, and it can be difficult to find the necessary cross-compiler for a given language/platform combination when the language is not platform-neutral. In addition, without additional remote instrumentation, the build result according to the approach above is not automatically provided to a target remote machine.
Another approach involves running the build on a target remote system rather than on the local platform that includes the IDE used to develop the source code. In this case, the source code must be available on the remote host in order to run the build. Thus, the source code must either be developed remotely (developed on the remote platform using the IDE on the local platform) or the local project source code must be synchronized to the remote system. This type of direct remote development is supported by some IDEs. Alternatively, a push/pull mechanism is used to transfer files between the local system and remote host. However, this approach is limited to targeting a particular remote host and platform.